Amassment Message Board

So i'm currently trying to finish up my Juvia shrine and the last few pages I have are the relationship ones. i've put them off till the end for a reason i've limited it to the people i feel are really worth mentioning but one thing has kept me from writing: how to go about it.

I've always been bad at writing these ones and for the most part try to avoid them. However i feel it is important to my shrine and i want it to be there.

So i was wondering how you folks do it?

these are some things i have though of: a chronological telling of their relationship or summing up the nature of their relationship and then showing examples.... and thats about it.

halp?

The relationships page is one of the last ones I typically do as well, so I hear you! (In fact, I need to tackle that for Loki tonight lol) I try to talk more about the nature of the relationship as well as explore their feelings toward each other more than retell their interactions in a chronological order. That being said, I do use examples that highlight both of those things, so I do have some recapping as well.

...I'm not sure if that helped, but good luck! I'm sure whatever you decide will be great. :D

I tend to try to prove something about their relationship, and discuss their relationship around my theory.

For example, on my Tidus site, I have a Jecht page, and the central theme of that relationship page is "Was Jecht a good father to Tidus?" On my Reiko site, I chose to discuss how Shinichi and Reiko were similar, and kept thinking about that as I discussed their relationship. Finding something to talk about relating to their relationship will keep you focused and centered, and will prevent you from rambling, or just retelling the story.

I usually just say how the characters got along, if they had a friendship or rivalry, etc. Though I have taken a different approach too, usually in a separate page, to talk about how relationships could evolve based on what I've seen.

I did mine giving all the keypoints, which was pretty much the entire route in the game + extras since I wanted to show how they interacted to the fullest -evil to self- I saved the "Why them" part in the site info section since the relationship was so long XD

Relationships I always have trouble with. Pretty much I start by picking the relationships I feel are important to the character and then I discuss that person and then talk about the relationship and why I think their relationship is important.

Too many "ands" but I hope that makes sense.

Personally, I only write relationship pages for the characters that are important to the subject. I don't typically write pages about character relationships when the content would basically boil down to a couple of sentences rehashing how the characters interacted in canon and what came of it. (I actually could stand to add a few relationship pages on a couple of my sites; thank you for making me think of it.)

Instead, what I focus on is how the relationship developed the characters and how it impacted their character arcs. I find that thinking about it in these terms makes it a lot easier to write relationship pages. It may help to go chronologically, because oftentimes many relationships have a starting point and a ending point -- i.e. these two characters started out as enemies and ended up as friends, and this is how it happened and why. With more complex plots and situations there's more to discuss and analyze.

Hopefully that helps! That's just how I do it, though, and there's no right or wrong answer. Like Todd said above it can be helpful to find a specific topic to discuss, as well.

i just want to say thank you guys for all the feedback. I really can't say how much this all helps. I tried to pick just one topic but i feel with how big of a series Fairy Tail is (its about bleach or naruto sized for those not familiar) that i'm finding chronological with inserted observations is easier for her biggest relationship (gray). for relationships not quite as big i'm finding todd's method a lot easier. is it weird to have a different style on different pages?

i was also getting worried cause my one relationship page was started to sound like a rehash of one of my essay pages on her personality, etc.

My approach to relationship pages is twofold:

- Is the relationship a major one for the character (largely life-affecting)? It needs its own page. If it's a minor relationship, it can hang out with the other minor relationships on one page.
- Is the relationship canon or fanon? If canon, the page/blurb needs a brief synopsis of the relationship as it plays out in the story, with visuals if applicable, and then some opinions. If fanon, the page/blurb needs evidence for (and evidence against, to be fair), with appropriate visuals if available, and then opinions.

...I just realized I haven't done a shipping shrine in about a million zillion years. LOL I think Tumblr has taken the place of that xD

Chiming in to also say I write separate pages for the most important relationships. I generally have a "Others" or "Other Relationships" page for the minor relationships, and they get a paragraph or two apiece. Here are some examples:

On my Sabin site, Edgar, Cyan, and Gau got their own pages. The Others page has three other characters.

My Knuckles site is a much smaller site and is less in-depth, but Sonic and Rouge got their own pages. Robotnik and Tails are on the Others page.

Pretty much all of my sites follow that format.